Title Sequence: The Substitute
Loerie Finalist 2022
Project Brief
This project required students to conceptualise, storyboard, design and shoot or animate a 30 - 60 second title sequence. Students received a list of blurbs of selected books that are yet to be turned into cinematic features, as visualisers the task was to conceptualise a narrative and visual treatment solely based off of the blurb. The 30 - 60 second title sequence was not meant to be a showcase of the cast but rather a few seconds of airtime to hint toward an unfolding narrative. After conceptualising a strong narrative and concept, the storyboarding process starts in order to visually explain the unfolding narrative. This project requires working in teams of two, pairing up strategically to complete the work in an orderly fashion, managing time, work flow and content creation.
Project Deliverables
- 30 - 60 Second title sequence
- Comprehensive storyboard(s)
- Conceptual development
Design Strategy
After pairing up as a team, the process of choosing the perfect blurb was the first point of action. Going through endless pages of blurbs, one was found that left a creative imprint in our thought process, The Teacher by Katerina Diamond.
As the blurb was chosen, the process of brainstorming ideas on visual style begun in order to establish a visual mood and tone along with conceptualising different narratives and unfolding interpretations of the chosen blurb. After many explorations and interpretations (as seen below), a media was chosen in which the title sequence will be generated which was film.
Choosing film as a medium to work was a challenge and opportunity to improve technical skills regarding film, different camera angles and lighting techniques and compositions were explored and researched as it played a crucial part in the mood and tone of the title sequence. After doing thorough research, storyboards were developed and crafted to fit the narrative and tone set for the title sequence.
Finalising storyboards allowed first rounds of tests shots with our actress, testing out the setting and scene as well as the camera settings to ensure that lighting, angles and compositions were perfect. After 3 - 4 days of shooting enough footage was gathered to create a well put together title sequence with no shortage of angles and scenes, crafting the footage by grading and cutting it as necessary, aligning the scenes with the chosen sound track.
Conceptual Development
Conceptualising process
The process of conceptualising the perfect narrative started off by brainstorming different narratives and interpretations. Moodboards were create for each concept in order to create a well established visual identity for each to serve as a style guide. Throughout this process mood and tone inspiration was drawn from other series and films such as vampire diaries, gilmore girls, etc.
The Concept & Moodboard (Moodboard on left)
The title sequence starts off with an innocent girl getting ready for school. We see her entering a room, and then it cuts to her taking a shower, blow drying her hair, getting dressed and doing her make up. The different scenes and angles intrigues the spectator as she dresses into a school uniform and seems to be thrown off by her surroundings. As the girl leaves the room, she is seen walking past a dead girls body, she takes the dead girls clip, and proceeds to walk out of the room leaving the viewer in shock as to what just happened. Throughout the title sequence it was important not to reveal the girls' face as we do not want to create any spoilers and leave the mystery up to the series to solve. The moodboard sets an unsuspecting tone for the title sequence, contributing to the shock factor at the end of the title sequence.
Visual Inspiration (moodboard on right)
To set the right tone for our feature we drew inspiration from the colour palettes and mood from various movies. We were inspired by The Royal Tenenbaums and About Time for the aesthetic of our title sequence. To create a realistic depiction of a school girl getting ready we used Gilmore Girls, The Princess Diaries, and Clueless as references.
Storyboarding
The process of storyboarding allowed a lot of creative and lateral thinking as ideas about angles, lighting and filming was constantly generated and placed within the storyboarding process.
First day filming tests
On the first day of testing different angles and lighting, it was evident that our lighting was way too light, and settings had to changed with the camera. This was a good test to get our mood and tone going as well as easing our actress into her role.
Final Storyboard
The Title Sequence
